31 August 2007

Fiberal Attorney General Michael Bryant is desperately looking for his one-line re-election issue. He thought he had it with "No Gun, No Funeral" which targets owners of legally registered firearms as some sort of miraculous solution for the wholesale slaughter presently centered in Toronto's northwest end.

In Canada in 2003, there were 548 homicides, 161 resulted from shooting (29.3%). There were 302,000 “crimes of violence” and 5% of these crimes “involved” a firearm. This “involved” category is misleading, guns “involved” in crime are guns picked up by the police from a crime scene - say ones that were found in a closet. Guns are actually used in violent crime about 1.9% of the time. no gun = no funeral” as a physical impossibility since 71% of homicides will not be affected

Statistics Canada has reported that 2.27% of homicides in Canada were committed with a registered gun and only 1.21% were committed with a registered firearm that was owned by the accused (Statistics Canada study of 5,194 homicides between 1997 & 2005). A crackdown on the law abiding will accomplish what?

In 2003, there were 161 gun homicides in Canada. Assuming that each shooting involved a separate gun we can calculate what percentage of Canadian guns were involved in these murders. If we take the official figure of seven million guns we get (161/7,000,000 = 0.000023 or .0023%). Only 23 ten thousandths of 1% of the Canadian gun stock was involved in a homicide.

So what's the bottom line here, Bruce?

If we pursue our policy of regulating crime by strictly regulating gun availability to the general public we can reasonably expect that .0023% of our efforts will affect guns used in homicide and 99.997% of our effort will be wasted.

Perhaps Bryant should just rename his dog "Peace Moonbeam"... and hope for the best.

TORONTO — Toronto police temporarily shut down two major highways Friday as they gingerly removed several explosive devices from an east-end neighbourhood and ferried them across town in a slow-moving convoy.

The devices in question were plucked from a vehicle following the arrest Thursday night of a man police allege is connected to several attempted letter bombings earlier this month.

Probably those sociopathic monarchists again, or a gang of out of control, fanatical Baptists.

Wait a minute... they've arrested someone.

Adel Arnaout, 37, was expected to face several charges, including three counts of attempted murder, when he appeared in court Friday.

Police believe the three letter-bomb incidents were linked and that the motive for the attacks was personal.

You're pissed off at somebody... I guess it's too much to ask that you settle it like a sane person... without involving explosives or small arms?

The rooming house that Adel Mohamed Arnaout lived in had been nicknamed the Bombay Bunker by neighbours because of its double steel doors and has been described to house as many as thirty people at a time.

Mohawk activist Shawn Brant was ordered to stand trial on nine criminal charges before walking out of a Dundas Street West courthouse and into the arms of friends and loved ones Thursday.

Brant, who has spent the last two months in custody, was released on strict bail conditions including not to participate in any demonstrations or protests and not to leave his house for the next 30 days without police permission.

Of course, the fact that Brant has previously broken his bail conditions, not once, but twice... apparently doesn't figure into this decision.

Sadly, none of this gets mentioned in the media. At the CBC website they refer to Brant, not as a law-breaking thug... but as a "Mohawk crusader."

Brant was also ordered to stay away from the Deseronto Road quarry currently occupied by fellow protesters and to report daily to his mother Deanna Brant and family friend Winston Maracle, both of whom put up $50,000 each to the court in collateral to secure his release.

If, as Finance Minister Greg Sorbara did yesterday, one is going to slam funding for private religious schools because they are divisive and separate kids from one another, it is useful if you can show yourself as a public school supporter.

Sadly, Sorbara cannot. His six kids went to the exclusive Toronto Waldorf school -- not a faith-based school, sure, but not exactly the kind of place where your kids mix and mingle with children from disadvantaged backgrounds.

30 August 2007

-- WASHINGTON -- The FBI disclosed new details about its secretive technology for tracing telephone calls and recording conversations during criminal, terror and espionage investigations, custom-made tools it has developed without fanfare for a decade.

Of course, they didn't disclose any of this, out of the goodness of their hearts.

The FBI was forced by a federal judge to give the files to the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a San Francisco-based civil liberties group, which requested them under the Freedom of Information Act more than a year ago.

-- ST. JOHN'S -- The Liberals will force an early vote on the Canadian mission in Afghanistan this fall in a bid to set Prime Minister Stephen Harper on the defensive over the issue.

Liberal Leader Stéphane Dion said his party will use its first opposition day in the fall session to put forward a motion for Canada to notify its allies that it will withdraw from Kandahar in February, 2009.

Aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it deosn't mttaer in waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoetnt tihng is taht the frist and lsat ltteer be at the rghit pclae. The rset can be a toatl mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit porbelm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe.

"As consultations with teachers continued, it became apparent that safe-school transfers were a significant issue at C.W. Jefferys, which receives more safe-school transfers than it sends out to other schools," says the panel's report, released yesterday.

Jefferys last year took in 11 safe-school transfers, and sent out six; Westview took in 13, but sent out 21. Safe-school transfers are used to move students involved in serious or criminal incidents.

"Crime and victimization are serious problems for students at C.W. Jefferys, but sadly, these problems do not appear isolated within C.W. Jefferys or even within other schools in the `Jane-Finch' community."

A Toronto family doctor admitted yesterday to pumping more than 130,000 prescription sedatives into the black market and defrauding Ontario's health care system of more than $750,000.

And this guy was no virgin...

Kitakufe, a Canadian landed immigrant, who was convicted of similar offences in Illinois nearly 20 years ago, was charged with conspiracy to defraud the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care, defrauding the ministry and conspiracy to traffic in the narcotic-based painkiller OxyContin.

Yesterday he admitted using his Finch Ave. W. practice in Downsview to provide inventory for operators of a black market in prescription narcotics.

-- NEW YORK -- Toys "R" Us has recalled 27,000 crayon and paint sets made in China because the packaging of the wooden box contains lead, as does some of the watercolor paint within, company and government officials said Thursday.

29 August 2007

Contrary to the big splash in the media... the court did not actually declare Steven Truscott innocent...

"I believe he's definitely guilty," he said. "I believe that the media and the people on his defence team have put a spin on this thing that he was a young - a young boy that was very innocent, but in reality he was - he was a tough kid."

"The task of demonstrating innocence is particularly difficult in this case where in addition to the passage of almost a half-century since the crime, certain immutable facts cast some suspicion on the appellant."

"He was the last known person to see the victim alive and was with her at a location very close to where she was murdered."

"At this time, and on the totality of the record, we are in no position to make a declaration of innocence. Indeed, we are not satisfied that an acquittal would be the only reasonable verdict."

Former Appeal Court Justice Sydney Robins, tasked by the Ontario government with reviewing the compensation issue, said he must first decide whether Truscott is entitled to an award before recommending how much, if any.

"The issue turns on the fact that there was no explicit finding of factual innocence in the case,'' Robins said in a telephone interview.

-- FLORENCE, Italy -- Florence, Renaissance city of art and history, is trying to clean up its streets by cracking down on squeegee men, saying they were causing "great danger" to drivers and pedestrians alike.

Mayor Leonardo Domenici issued a decree last week to force the squeegee men — people who wash drivers' windshields and demand payment — off the streets, imposing fines and detention of up to three months.

Jean Leonard Touadi, a security adviser for Rome's City Hall, said the problem was real in many big cities.

"In very recent time, these people have become very aggressive, mainly with women," Touadi said.

On the other hand, I guess the egalitarian, progressive left feels a modern womyn should be able to tai-bo these social misfits right onto their aggressive, freeloading asses...

While the measure was applauded by some, leftist politicians said Florence was going after the wrong people.

"If there are attacks against people, they have to be stopped," Social Solidarity Minister Paolo Ferrero said in an interview with The Associated Press Television News. "But to consider being a squeegee in itself a crime, it is wrong."

The back burner... and infectious disease experts agree it's only a matter of time... it'll make SARS look like diaper rash.

-- WASHINGTON -- A mathematical analysis has confirmed that H5N1 avian influenza spread from person to person in Indonesia in April, U.S. researchers reported on Tuesday.

Health officials around the world agree that a pandemic of influenza is overdue, and they are most worried by the H5N1 strain of avian influenza that has been spreading through flocks from Asia to Africa.

"The world really may have dodged a bullet with that one, and the next time, we might not be so lucky," he added.

In 1998 Mr. McGuinty met with Mr. Farber and 50 other executive members of the CJC and told them he was open to faith-based school funding. It was the first positive sign from a provincial leader on the issue since the group began campaigning for it in 1984.

Liberal Leader Stéphane Dion moved Monday to capitalize on anger against Stephen Harper's Conservatives in Newfoundland and Nova Scotia, pledging that he would respect the Atlantic Accord if he became prime minister.

-- ST. JOHN'S, N.L. -- Three men, including a former top lieutenant in Premier Danny Williams's government, were charged Tuesday for their alleged role in an expense scandal that has shocked the province's political establishment and led to an overhaul of the legislature's spending practices.

Williams, who has been waging political war on Prime Minister Stephen Harper who he accuses of breaking a 2006 election promise on offshore oil revenues, declared his meeting with Dion private, forcing the Liberals to cancel a scheduled photo opportunity with the two leaders.

-- KINGSTON, Ont. -- Aboriginal protesters blocking access to a proposed uranium mining site in eastern Ontario are calling for the provincial government to settle the dispute after a judge ordered them to leave the property.

After Islamotards get their jihad-lovin' asses handed to them... yet again.

-- KABUL, Afghanistan -- U.S. led and Afghan troops battled suspected Taliban insurgents in southern Afghanistan on Tuesday in ground clashes and air strikes that left more than 100 militants dead, the coalition said.

The little back-stabbing bastards just don't seem to be able to get the hang of head-to-head combat. They'd best stick with sneak attacks and using women and children for cover.

The battle in Kandahar province's Shawali Kot district started after the joint force was ambushed by a large group of insurgents who tried to overrun their position several times, before being strafed by air strikes, the statement from the coalition said.

"Coalition aircraft destroyed the reinforced enemy emplacements and sniper positions as well as two trucks used to reinforce and re-supply the insurgent force,'' the statement said.

Mrs Neo set our alarm for 4:50 this morning so we could all get up and see the lunar eclipse... which was kinda cool... but for a closer look, you have to check out these pix.

-- Arizona State University -- Highly detailed photographs of the Moon taken by the Apollo missions are being made available to the public for the first in more than 30 years.

Many Nasa lunar images are already available through websites like Google Moon - but the pictures on the Apollo Image Archive are special because of the level of detail.

One of the samples already posted online is an image showing high-resolution surface detail of the moon taken from a camera that was mounted on the Apollo 15 mission in 1971. The original raw scan, available for download, is 1.3 Gigabytes in size.

Every year the authorities in Brussels, the capital of Belgium and of the European Union (EU), receive between 500 and 600 applications for permission to demonstrate or hold protest marches. With very few exceptions permission is always granted. In the past five years only six applications were turned down – an average of one a year.

Last week another request was turned down. Freddy Thielemans, the Mayor of Brussels, prohibited a demonstration against the Islamization of Europe, planned to be held next September 11 in front of the European Parliament buildings.

Now Freddy, who apparently has a bit of a hard-on for Catholics is general and the Pope very specifically... has decided to step on free speech.

Well, he may have just stepped on his dick as well.

Up until last week the Belgian press had made no mention of the march. Last Thursday, however, Mayor Thielemans banned the demonstration. A local joke has it that the mayor cannot allow a demonstration on his 63rd birthday (Thielemans was born on Sept. 11, 1944) because he fears that if the pope dies on his birthday it will cost him a fortune to offer “champagne for everyone.”

Oh yeah... that Freddy is such a card. At an official function in 2005, upon learning of the death of Pope John Paul II, Funster Freddy apparently ordered "champagne for everyone".

Meanwhile an online petition, which everyone is invited to sign, asks the mayor to reconsider his decision. Thielemans’ ban has turned the anti-Sharia demonstration into a huge publicity stunt, even if only a few people show up. The press will be there and the world will be watching – if not a mass demonstration, Filip Dewinter celebrating his 45th birthday with a bottle of champagne.

-- ANKARA -- A devout Muslim with a background in political Islam won the Turkish presidency on Tuesday, in a major triumph for the Islamic-rooted government after months of confrontation with the secular establishment.

-- Paris -- Speaking to 180 French ambassadors, Mr Sarkozy said a nuclear-armed Iran would be "unacceptable" and that the only response was to tighten sanctions while being open to talks if Iran suspended nuclear activities.

"This initiative is the only one that can enable us to escape an alternative that I say is catastrophic: the Iranian bomb or the bombing of Iran," he said, adding that it was the worst crisis facing the world.

27 August 2007

-- AMSTERDAM -- The Dutch government will spend $38-million (U.S.) over the next four years to prevent both the growth of Islamic fundamentalism and right-wing nationalism, an official said Monday.

Interior Affairs Minister Guusje ter Horst described a mix of “soft measures,” like sponsoring multicultural debates and creating job internships, and “hard measures,” including cracking down on truancy.

So hey, all you would be murderers... watch out for the truant officer.

And that's not the entire package, by any means.

A teacher who notices students voicing racist or fundamentalist notions should be able to call a hotline for advice, for example, Ms. Ter Horst said.

-- THE HAGUE, Netherlands -- A Philippine communist leader accused of commanding a rebel uprising for more than 20 years from his home in exile was arrested by Dutch police Tuesday, suspected of ordering the murder of two former allies in his home country, prosecutors said.

Police located the firearms after Gatineau police launched an investigation into accusations of a domestic-related incident between Mr. Shanmugadhasan, 48, and a woman with whom he had been in a relationship.

I mean, we're talkin' bitter, alcoholic doper...

Mr. Shanmugadhasan, who filed a $2-million lawsuit against his former employer and two insurance companies in May following a dispute over disability benefits, claimed in court documents supporting the lawsuit that he suffers from "psychological conditions" and "longstanding substance dependence" to alcohol and, in the years leading up to 2004, cocaine.

He also isn't anyone's idea of a model citizen.

Prior to his arrest this week, Mr. Shanmugadhasan was not known to police.

However, the Citizen has learned he once served about three years in a California prison in the early 1980s, following a drug conviction.

-- SEATTLE -- Earlier this summer a concerned crew member of a Washington State ferry boat snapped pictures of two men who had raised suspicions on several ferry rides by asking questions about structural details and entering areas of the boats that are off-limits.

Now, after the FBI released two photographs of the men to the public with the goal of identifying them, a debate has erupted over alleged racial profiling...

Muslim groups have said the release of the photographs amounted to profiling because the men could be perceived as Middle Eastern.

Forgive me for pointing this out, but... that didn't work out so great last time.

-- KABUL (Reuters) -- Opium production has soared to "frightening record levels" in Afghanistan, which now has more land producing drugs than Columbia, Bolivia and Peru combined, the United Nations said on Monday.

The southern province of Helmand, where mostly British troops are engaged in almost clashes with Taliban rebels, produced more than half of Afghanistan's opium crop.

"Helmand has single-handedly become the world's biggest source of illicit drugs, surpassing the output of entire countries like Colombia (coca), Morocco (cannabis), and Myanmar (opium) which have populations up to 20 times larger," said the UNODC.

Who says the Religion of Peace is an inflexible institution?

Taliban leader Mullah Mohammad Omar drastically reduced opium production in Afghanistan during his last year in power, issuing a religious edict banning the crop and threatening harsh punishments in areas the movement held under its strict control.

Now, the report said, the Taliban had reversed its policy.

"What used to be considered a sin is now being encouraged," UNODC Executive Director Antonio Maria Costa said.

A sniper killed a Shiite pilgrim on a Baghdad bridge Monday while another was killed and a dozen injured in other attacks as tens of thousands of faithful made their way to the southern city of Karbala for a major religious commemoration.

As police investigated the stabbing death of a man in the Pharmacy Ave. and Danforth Rd. area yesterday, residents complained how drug dealers, hookers, and pimps are becoming a common sight in their neighbourhood.

"I wish I could pick up my house and move it somewhere else," Smillie said.

Is draconian North American standards regarding lead, formaldehyde and insecticide content in things like, well... you know, childrens toys.

-- BEIJING -- China strongly defended the quality of its exports Monday, saying some problems were a result of varying global product standards and that a mass recall of toys was largely a result of faulty U.S. designs not Chinese workmanship.

Yeah, I can just see the guys who designed Thomas the Tank Engine saying, "Hey, why don't we save a few bucks here and use that inexpensive lead paint instead?"

But continuing discoveries of high levels of chemicals and toxins in Chinese goods — from toothpaste and clothes to fish and juice — have made salvaging its reputation an uphill task.

"If you were to travel at the speed of light, it would take you several years to get to the nearest stars in our own Milky Way galaxy; but if you were to go to this hole and enter one side, you'd have to travel for a billion years before you would get to the other side."

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EXPLANATORY NOTE:

Before any more of you dopey leftbots jump all over me for being a "Jesus Freak", I should probably explain, for perhaps the tenth time... I'm actually an atheist.

26 August 2007

You're being outwitted by a troop of monkeys... I'd say it's time to move on anyway.

-- Nachu, Kenya -- "For God's sake, the government should take pity on us and move these monkeys away because we do not want to abandon our farms," he said.

"I beg you, please come and take these animals away from here so that we can farm in peace."

Seems there's never a Liberal around when you need one.

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SOMEWHAT RELATED: Mrs Neo is much more sympathetic

As someone who assumed primary responsibility for transforming a monkey-like creature into a fine young man, my wife feels for these beleagured villagers.

"You have absolutely no idea how relentless a small, determined primate can be", she points out. "You assume discipline is like setting a VCR... you don't realise how much effort and utter repetition is involved."

-- TORONTO -- Canadian health department has advised people against using a Neem toothpaste from India, claiming that it contains high levels of harmful bacteria apart from a chemical found in antifreeze which was discovered earlier.

Neem Active Toothpaste with Calcium, made by Calcutta Chemical Co. Ltd. in India, should not be used, Health Canada warned.

Speaking of India, I recently went three rounds with a totally clueless minion from Sympatico's outsourced IT helpline... and let me tell you, we're talkin' "special with an R".

The person "assisting" me absolutely refused to diferentiate between Belleville and Brockville, Ontario... and I had to insist on talking to his manager to try make any sort of progress... which incidentally... we didn't.

I was fortunate enough the problem went away on its own.

The moral of this particular story is... if it's made in India... it ain't goin' in my mouth.

The committee is comprised of many members of the Ontario Coalition Against Poverty, which also hosts the Free Shawn Brant web page.

"Shawn really fits the profile of a political prisoner," he said, adding that Torontonians he has talked with seem to support Brant's release.

Nobody I've talked to considers Brant a political prisoner. They use words like thug and terrorist. The phrase "tarred and feathered" has come up on more than one occasion.

And while that may be how they see things down at OCAP HQ... the locals beg to differ.

Residents of Deseronto, where Brant's group has occupied a quarry since March 22, feel differently, said Mayor Norm Clark.

Many residents of the frustrated town, 60 per cent of which is encompassed in the Culbertson Tract land claim currently under negotiation, had a renewed faith in the justice system when Brant was denied bail, he said.

"I would even go so far as to say that if Mr. Brant was let out, a lot of people would lose faith in the system as we know it," he said.

-- KUUJJUAQ, QUE. -- “What is happening today is a gesture of respect,” he said. “If you are experiencing problems in regards to drug abuse or alcohol abuse, if you feel these problems are bigger than you are, you now know that a call for help was expressed here.

"I was impressed by the ability of your community to say, ‘We need help.'"

See, here's an important difference...

A Conservative would be impressed by the ability of the community to help themselves... and thoroughly appalled by $170-million dollars worth of nanny-state compassion.

Even if you don't have a problem with abortion... there's still a huge problem here.

The babies first born 25 years ago under China's government enforced one-child policy are now of marrying age.

Some say that as many as 40 million young Chinese men might be unable to find a wife and will spend their lives as bachelors.

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FROM THE COMMENTS: I missed the geopolitical aspect

"The Mongolians, Russians and Vietnamese should harden their borders. Within the next 10-20 years, China will conduct a war of conquest to use up its excess males usefully before they destroy the state."

-- WASHINGTON -- More than 1,200 people were arrested for alleged immigration violations in Tuesday's six-state raid on meat processing plants and about 65 of them face criminal charges, including identity theft, Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said today.

Federal officials said Operation Wagon Train netted 1,282 individuals, the largest such crackdown on illegal immigration at a single worksite.

The former president and CEO of the B.C. Lottery Corporation has been awarded $603,362.70 in severance pay, the company announced Wednesday.

Vic Poleschuk was fired in June after the release of a tough report by the province's ombudsman raised questions about the management of the lottery system, pointedly noting that there was too little policing of ticket retailers.

Kim Carter said lottery officials had failed to protect consumers, and the system was open to abuse.

Was the only slimeball low enough to play politics with the tragic deaths of our brave soldiers... you'd be wrong.

Bloc Québécois Leader Gilles Duceppe says he's ready to bring down Prime Minister Stephen Harper's government this fall if there's no firm commitment to withdraw Canadian troops from Afghanistan by February 2009.

Mr. Duceppe is also asking for an emergency debate on Canada's military role in Afghanistan when Parliament resumes on Sept. 17.

It seems "Ghoul Duceppe" is ready and willing, to piss on as many graves as is necessary, to advance his political career.

Master Warrant Officer Mario Mercier, a member of 2nd Bataillon, Royal 22nd Regiment and Master Cpl. Christian Duchesne, of the 5th Field Ambulance, were both killed in Wednesday's incident -- which occurred at 6:19 a.m. local time.

Here's the guys that Taliban Jack and Ghoul Duceppe want to negotiate with...

-- KANDAHAR, AFGHANISTAN -- The operation that saw two Canadian soldiers and their interpreter killed in a mine strike Wednesday had its roots in a brazen attack last week on an Afghan district leader in front of his house.

It was the savage attack on Haji Kheerbin, the 48-year-old district chief of the volatile Zhari area about 30 kilometres west of Kandahar, that led to the mission.

Mr. Kheerbin was preparing for prayers with his three young children at his side here last Friday when a suicide bomber approached and blew himself up.

The youngsters, two sons aged 6 and 12 and a three-year-old daughter, died with their father in the blast.

A man is facing a murder charge after a brutal stabbing yesterday morning claimed the life of a 35-year-old man and left residents of an East York apartment building shaken.

Tenants of 6 Milepost Pl., near Don Mills Rd. and Overlea Blvd., were awakened in their apartments by screams just after 7 a.m. and ran outside to find Engin Yilmaz lying lifeless in a pool of blood with several stab wounds to his chest.

22 August 2007

But they're certainly not stupid... they realise they need to capitalise, right now, on all the vehement opposition to the war that's coming, in the largest measure, from Quebec.

-- VANCOUVER, British Columbia (Reuters) -- Two Canadian soldiers and an interpreter were killed and two journalists injured on Wednesday during an attack in southern Afghanistan, the Canadian military said.

What the surrender-monkeys have accomplished, in essence, is to paint big red targets on our soldiers backs.

There was something distasteful in the many media commentaries about last week's Cabinet shuffle, arguing as it did the that the task of the new Minister of Defence, Peter MacKay, was to communicate the Afghan policy better than his predecessor, Gordon O'Connor.

The sense that this is simply a matter of better public relations is to understate the gravity of the issue.

In order to make an educated decision about a war, it is necessary to have some sense of the victories as well as the cost to be paid in blood and treasure.